Several hours after school the Friday before spring break found Madison, Justin and twelve other students in the school parking lot loading up their camping gear into a trailer hitched to a fifteen passenger van and telling their parents goodbye.
"Be careful and have fun," Madison's stepmom told her as she gave her a hug. Madison hugged her back and then they pulled away from each other.
"See you in a week," Madison said with a smile before heading towards the van so she could claim a window seat. Justin hugged his mom goodbye and then joined Madison, stopping in the doorway of the van to turn around and give his mom one final wave.
"Alright campers let's load up," Mr. Jeffries, the biology/botany instructor called out to the group. Twelve teens scurried to load into the van as Mr. Jeffries and one of the female P.E. instructors, Ms. Norton, inspected the trailer one last time to ensure its door was securely shut and locked and the hitch connection was secure. They completed their inspection and climbed into the driver's and passenger seats.
"Everyone buckled in?" Ms. Norton asked, turning around in her seat to make sure the students actually were. There was a slight scuffle as several students grudgingly buckled themselves in. Seatbelts secure, Mr. Jeffries started the engine and the group was on their way, the students' parents watching and waving them off.
As the campers began their journey, Grace, Grant and small group of teenager were at LAX telling their parents and loved ones goodbye.
"Bwing me back a souvenir," Tom said as he gave Grace a bear hug. Grace laughed and hugged her brother back.
"I will," she promised. Tom released her and her grandmother approached her.
"I know it's not exactly a church mission trip but all the same there's gonna be some hard work, some fun, and lots of opportunities to grow and touch other people's lives," she told Grace with a smile. "I'll miss you sweet pea," she said, giving Grace a hug. Grace hugged her grandmother tightly and then pulled back with a smile.
"I'll miss you too, grandma." Kathleen approached last and she was fighting hard to keep her tears at bay. Grace could see her mother's internal struggle and wrapped her arms around her mom's waist. Kathleen hugged her back tightly and sighed.
"Africa's just so far away, Gracie," she said sadly. "Just be safe and come back in one piece. Ok?" She pulled back slightly so she could look Grace in the eye. Grace nodded.
"I will," she promised. Kathleen sighed again and hugged her daughter tightly. She knew this was a great opportunity for her daughter but that didn't mean she had to be completely okay with her daughter being on another continent.
"Alright everyone we should get going," the team leader called out. The volunteers all gave their loved ones final hugs and then followed the team organizers and got in line for security. Tom, Kathleen and her mom watched with the rest of the loved ones as the group made their way through security. After they passed through the security gate and collected their belongings, Grace and Grant stopped and turned to wave goodbye one last time to their families before heading down the walkway out of sight towards their gate. Kathleen's mom put an arm around her.
"She'll be just fine, Kathleen. Gracie's a tough little cookie and she's got her boyfriend looking out for her. All we can do now is pray," she told her daughter with a soft smile. Kathleen gave her mother a grateful smile, acknowledging that her mom was attempting to console her. She nodded in agreement and the little trio began making their way towards the parking garage to head home.
Back at the butcher shop Ricky was working with pep in his step. Nora chuckled as she worked with him to finish the basket orders that had come in that day and Ricky glanced up at her.
"What?" he asked curiously. Nora shook her head.
"Nothing," she said with a shrug, a smile on her face. "Just that I can see how happy you are about your little family vacation and I think it's adorable." She finished the basket she was packing and began to wrap it up.
"Adorable?" Nora nodded.
"Yeah. It's cute that my baby's so happy about spending time with his baby. Well, and his baby mama," she explained, the smile still on her face. She glanced across the work bench at Ricky. "It's nice," she told him sincerely. Ricky smiled back and returned his focus to the basket he was currently packing. "Just do me a favor and take lots of pictures." Ricky chuckled and nodded. Since his mom had become more involved in his life again she'd been snap happy, taking so many pictures of him, John, Amy and their interactions with both Amy's family and Margaret and Shakur that he was sure she could fill a whole bookshelf worth of photo albums. He wasn't sure if she was simply making up for lost time or if she was just so excited to have her family back, to be part of a real family, that she was just trying to document each new precious memory as it happened.
Ricky's good mood endured for the rest of his shift, as he fixed and ate his dinner after work and then as he double checked his bag for their trip. He didn't know why he'd been keeping count but so far, since he and Amy had started dating, they'd had three sleepovers and he thoroughly enjoyed waking up in the same building as Amy and John each time, working together to get him ready for the day. He was looking forward to tonight's sleepover as well. A thought suddenly occurred to him: maybe this'll give us an idea of what it's like to live together. His smile got a little bigger as he grabbed his keys and headed out to pick up Amy and John. When he arrived at Amy's and knocked on the door, Ashley opened it.
"Hey," he greeted her.
"Hey," she replied, stepping aside so he could enter.
"I no wanna play wight now John," they heard Robbie declare to his nephew from the living room. "I won cu-wer."
"I wanna play wit the cars. Pwease Wobbie?" they heard John ask as they entered the living room. As soon as John spotted Ricky the toy cars were forgotten. John gave Ricky a smile as he stood up and ran to him "Daddy!" Ricky laughed and scooped him up when John reached him.
"Hey, buddy. You ready to go?" John nodded his head eagerly. "Let's go see if we can find mommy."
"She's right here," Amy answered with a smile as she came into the living room carrying her small suitcase and purse. Ricky smiled when he saw her and then looked back at John.
"Say goodbye to aunty and Robbie, John," Ricky instructed. John turned to look at Ashley, who had taken a seat on the couch to channel surf.
"Bye auntie," he said, giving her a wave. Ashley turned her head to the side and smiled at him as she blew him a kiss.
"Have fun rug rat," she said with a smile. John looked down at Robbie and waved again.
"Bye, Wobbie." Robbie looked up from where he was lying on the floor coloring in his little coloring book and noticed John waving at him so he waved back, and then promptly returned his attention to the book. Amy chuckled and walked closer to the doorway. She left her suitcase there and knelt down next to her little brother to kiss his cheek.
"Bye bye, Robbie. I'll see you later."
"See you waiter," he parroted, not bothering to look at her since he didn't really comprehend the fact she wouldn't be there for a few days. Amy got up and walked over to Ashely. Ashley presented Amy with her cheek but kept her eyes on the TV. "See you in a week, Ash."
"Toodles," Ashley said. "Have fun, be safe, blah, blah, blah," she said nonchalantly. Amy chuckled as she stood up and headed back over to Ricky and John.
"See you in a week," Ricky said before turning to leave. He picked up John's little suitcase and diaper bag and then held the door open for Amy. Once she'd headed outside he shut the door behind them and they headed to his car. They loaded the bags into the trunk and then loaded into the car, Ricky buckling John into his car seat. Once he and Amy were buckled in he carefully backed out of the driveway and drove them back to his apartment.
As Amy and Ricky were headed to his apartment Grace, Grant and their little group were standing in line to board their plane, Grace emitting excited energy, causing Grant to chuckle.
"This is so exciting!" she said happily as they headed down the walkway together. "Just think! We're on our way to another country to help people! For a whole week we'll get to see what it's really like to be doctors! I'm excited and nervous at the same time!" Grant smiled at her.
"I know what you mean," he said as they entered the plane and made their way towards their seats. "It's awesome that we get a chance to go out and help people but it's also kinda unnerving that we'll be in another country so far from home." They found their seats and Grace made her way towards the window seat while Grant loaded their carry-ons in the overhead bin. They were joined by two other members from their team and everyone got comfortable as they waited for the plane to fill. Grace pulled out her phone and sent her mom, grandma, Tom, and friends a mass text: Boarded the plane. Waiting for takeoff! Amy felt her phone vibrate as she entered Ricky's apartment. She pulled it out to look at it as John scampered over to his toy bin, taking advantage of his mother's momentary distraction to play.
"Grace is on the plane," she announced to Ricky before putting her phone back in her pocket and picking John up to take him to bed. He groaned and pouted when she did so. "It's bedtime, John. We're going on our trip tomorrow so we need to get lots of sleep." Being reminded of the trip lifted John's mood. She and Ricky had been telling John about their trip for a couple of weeks to help prepare him for it mentally, since it would be a complete change of pace and scenery for him. Ricky placed his and John's bags by the front door and made sure it was locked while Amy read John his bedtime story, since he was already dressed for bed like he would be any other Friday evening. Once she finished the story Amy tucked him into his bed and kissed his forehead goodnight before turning off the light; she left the door slightly ajar so she wouldn't wake him when she came back in to go to sleep. She went into the living room to talk to Ricky for a bit. Ricky was sitting on the couch checking his phone and glanced up when he heard her footsteps approaching. He smiled when he saw her and patted the seat on the couch next to him in invitation.
"You ready for this?" he asked with a smile once Amy was seated next to him, putting an arm around her. She leaned against him and nodded.
"Yeah," she replied with a small smile. "I think it'll be nice to get away for a week." She sighed as she snuggled into him more. "I'm so glad our bosses like us enough to give us a whole week off." Ricky chuckled in agreement.
"Me too." He'd actually requested spring break off shortly after he and Amy had gotten back from their trip to the college and the idea of a family vacation first came to him. He was just glad Amy's boss had agreed to give her the week off; that would've thrown a serious wrench in his plans if she hadn't. He kissed her forehead and they simply sat together for a little while, enjoying the silence and each other's company. As Amy and Ricky relaxed together, Madison, Justin and their little camping group was just arriving at their campsite. There was a small flurry of activity as the teens all piled out of the van, eager to stretch their legs and get their first glimpse of their lodging for the next week. The sound of their chaperones unlocking the trailer made the teens head over towards them to retrieve their bags. Their gear in hand the teens followed Ms. Norton up the steps and into the cabin. The teens looked around in awe once she flipped a switch and the cabin's interior became illuminated. Madison had expected some little one-room shack with a bunch of bunk beds but this was anything but. The cabin had a full kitchen, a dining room and a living room downstairs with a sweeping staircase to one side of the living room that lead upstairs. At the top of the stairs Madison could see several doors, which she assumed led to bedrooms and a bathroom, as part of the upstairs walkway had a railing and was open to the living room below. The living room had large windows and Madison could see a lake in the distance, illuminated in various shades of red and orange as it reflected the last few lingering rays of the setting sun.
"Alright," Ms. Norton said to get everyone's attention. "Girls will be in the rooms to the left and the boys the rooms on the right," she instructed. "There's a bathroom at each end of the hall so you ladies and gents won't have to worry about crossing paths," she paused to give everyone a pointed look, letting them know there would be no hanky-panky on her watch. "And there's another bathroom downstairs," she informed them, pointing down a short hallway. "Everyone pick a room and a bunk and drop off your packs. Then come help Mr. Jeffries and I unload the rest of the gear and food we'll be using for the week." The teens quickly scrambled up the stairs, their footsteps sounding like a small stampeded, as they hurried to check out the rooms and claim a bunk. Ms. Norton set her pack on the floor and headed outside to help Mr. Jeffries unload the rest of the trailer.
By the time the teens had each selected a bunk and momentarily rid themselves of their bags, Mr. Jeffries and Ms. Orton had unloaded and put away all of the food. With fourteen teens helping, the rest of the gear was quickly unloaded and put away in an organized fashion.
"Alright everyone let's head into the living room," Mr. Jeffries announced. The teens trooped into the living room and made themselves comfortable on the assortment of couches, loveseats and armchairs while their chaperones stood near the fireplace the seating all faced towards. "You all have a copy our intended schedule so we won't go over that again right now. What we do want to cover are a few ground rules." The students groaned but Mr. Jeffries ignored them. "The basic ground rules were listed in your information packets and we expect them to be followed or you will call your parents so they can come pick you up. However, there are a few other rules to help make this week as smooth as possible for everyone."
"And they're pretty obvious," Ms. Norton chimed in. "One, there will be no boys in either of the girl's rooms and vice versa. Two, you will only use the bathroom at the end of your hallway, as I mentioned earlier. Understood?" She looked around the room and saw all of the teens nodding. "Three, the kitchen will be closed after each meal and there will be no snacking between them. We've planned out each meal and only brought enough food for each of those meals. We've planned out snacks for when we go hiking and any other snacking will mean we won't have enough food for a particular meal or planned snack." Several teens' eyes got a little wide at this bit of information as they had planned to snack when they felt like it.
"You were all told you could bring a few snacks to enjoy during your free time and these are the only snacks you may enjoy outside of meals and planned snacks," Mr. Jeffries assured them. "Now. It's time for bed." The teens collectively groaned and Mr. Jeffries chuckled. "We've got an early start tomorrow and you all need to review the rules and schedule in your packets so you'll be prepared for tomorrow morning." A student raised her hand. "Yes, Sarah?"
"I don't think I packed my packet," she said nervously.
"We've packed a few extra," he assured her and Sarah sagged with relief into the armchair she was currently occupying.
As the teens stood and made their way upstairs to get ready for bed, Grace and Grant's plane was taking off, Grace excitedly looking out the window as the buildings below got smaller and smaller and transformed into a sea of lights. Lord, keep us all safe and help us to have a blast she silently prayed as took her gaze away from the window and prepared to take a nap.
As Grace closed her eyes to get some shut eye, Adrian was just glancing at her phone after having finished a late dinner. She'd gone for another walk that evening and then showered before preparing herself some dinner. She'd eaten a meal of tortilla soup, a small Caesar salad and enchiladas and washed it all down with some sweet tea. She felt proud of herself for having stuck to her plan to walk off the baby weight and eat better and was pleased to see that she'd lost four pounds over the past couple of weeks. She had finished washing up her dishes and decided to check her phone to see if Grace's plane had taken off yet. She saw that she had two missed texts from Grace and quickly read them:
Boarded the plane. Waiting for takeoff!
Getting ready to take off! Will text when we transfer planes in NY!
Adrian smiled sadly. I'm glad someone's moving forward in life. Her thoughts drifted to Mercy and she felt a twinge of sadness. She had been talking to Dr. Timmons since Mercy's death and so the sadness over losing her daughter so tragically no longer transformed her into an emotional wreck. Adrian had also been talking to Ben a little each day and he came over to visit her occasionally but they still hadn't really talked about Mercy's death and Adrian wasn't sure she was ready to just yet. Since Valentine's Day she'd felt a little bit of her self-confidence returning each day and it helped that she was slowly but surely getting her figure back. She knew she'd be ready to go back to school after spring break and hoped enough of her self-confidence would return that she could bring herself to face Amy and Ricky. They were the biggest variable in all this. Mentally she knew it wasn't their fault John had lived while Mercy hadn't but she hadn't seen or spoken to either of them in what felt like ages and she wasn't sure if the sight of them together, happily raising their child, would be enough to undo all the progress she'd made since the earthquake. She sighed as she headed upstairs. Only time will tell I guess.
Like Adrian, Ben was just now checking his phone. He had decided to go to a late movie with Alice and Henry and had put his phone on silent. Even though he enjoyed the movie and just hanging out with his best friends like the good 'ol days, part of him felt guilty that he hadn't invited Arian to join them and that he had actually enjoyed himself. He'd spoken to Dr. Timmons on several occasions since Mercy's death, when he felt his emotions were getting the best of him, and he knew that it was okay to feel or be happy even though Mercy was no longer with him. That didn't stop him from feeling a little guilty as soon as he realized he was happy but he was getting better at remembering that life didn't stop just because you lost a loved one and the best way to honor that person's memory was to live in a way that would've made them proud of you. So he found himself pushing aside his guilt as he read the two missed texts he had from Grace.
"So Grace is on her way," he informed Alice and Henry as they made their way to Alice's car.
"She and Grant'll be gone for the whole week, right?" Henry asked. Ben nodded as he slipped his phone back in his pocket. "Hope they don't catch malaria or something." Alice scowled at him. "What!? I'm just saying I hope they don't catch anything. That would totally ruin their trip, right?" He glanced at Ben for backup and Ben just shrugged.
"I guess," he offered, attempting to help Henry out.
"I'm sure they got vaccinated what whatever they could catch before they left," Alice assured him as she hit the alarm on her key ring to unlock her car. The three teens got in and headed out of the parking lot, Grace, Grant and communicable diseases forgotten as they talked about their favorite parts of the movie they'd just seen. Ben smiled to himself as he sat in the backseat of the car. It's nice to feel normal again. It doesn't mean I've forgotten about you baby girl he silently assured Mercy's spirit. Daddy's just glad he's not sad all the time anymore. And let's hope mommy starts to feel normal soon too.